Selling prices on eBay

Buy, sell, trade, or discuss prices of Super Soakers and water guns here. (For members only)
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SSCBen
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Selling prices on eBay

Post by SSCBen » Sat May 12, 2007 8:28 pm

Drenchenator and I have compiled the prices of over 100 completed water gun auctions on eBay. Despite the large number of auctions, average prices during the summer are not completely clear from this information. I will continue to monitor the prices of water guns during the next several months and post more detailed data and analysis later.

This data represents the average selling price (including shipping) and the average number of bids for many water guns. Several water guns were not sold in enough quantities to gather distinct data for. Those ones are marked with a single asterisk. Other water guns did not report shipping figures and those are marked with a double asterisk. The price figure in those ones lack shipping costs. More complete data including how common each water gun is on eBay will be available when I have completed the study.

Please do not repost this information elsewhere.

Aquapack - $55.95, only BIN
Arctic Shock - $28.77, 1.67
Batman - no bids
Big Trouble - $40.20, 3.5
CPS 1000 - $43.24, 11.5
CPS 1200 - $35.97, 6.67
CPS 1-3-5* - $51.00**, 9
CPS 1500 - $61.37, 15.50
CPS 1700* - $91.00**, 7
CPS 2000* - $174.27**, 21
CPS 2100 - $42.92, 12
CPS 2500 - $126.21, 17
CPS 2700 - $54.50, 8
CPS 3000 - $123.07, 25.25
CPS 3200* - $152.50**, 11
CPS 4100 - few bids, too little data, most were overpriced
Flash Flood - $32.70, 2.33
Helix - no bids
Hydroblade - one bid
Liquidator - no bids except in auction of 8
Max-D 3000 - few bids
Monster - $73.26, 6.5
Monster X - $92.44**, 19.5
Monster XL - $155.84, 15
SS 100 - $31.60, 8.33
SS 200 - $43.25, 14.5
XP 105 - $30.04, 6
XP 150 - $32.81, 2.25
XP 215 - $14.53, 1
XP 240 - $8.07, 0.33
XP 270 - $11.71, 1.5
XP 40 - $12.00, 1
XP 65 - $12.97, 2.5
XP 70 - $12.97, 2.5
XP 95 - $14.10, 1
XXP 175 - $10.95, 2.75
XXP 275 - $45.80, 6.5

Looking at this data, it becomes obvious to me that many water guns (even similar ones) are better deals on eBay or are easier to obtain. I don't have time to analyze the data right now, but I'm sure others will comment on it. ;)

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sun May 13, 2007 11:36 am

I'm surprised no one has posted about the implications of these findings yet, so I think I'll say a thing or two.

The statistics were only taken for water guns on the search term "super soaker." I know that water guns outside of that term rarely are expensive and sometimes a high-demand one pops in there. I would suggest checking out all terms you might think would cover the water gun you intend to get.

It is well known that during summer, water gun prices skyrocket on eBay, however, I have not determined just how much higher they are now because the summer is not completely started yet and I have no winter data to compare against. It should be known that summer is a seller's market and winter is a buyer's market despite the more limited number of water guns on eBay at that time.

The statistics also were indescriminate of the mark of the CPS 2000. I'll look into checking the mark of the single auction I could look at later.

High-demand water guns such as the CPS 2000, CPS 2500, CPS 3000, CPS 3200, Monster, Monster X, and Monster XL go for far higher than the sane are willing to pay. Wait until winter to buy on eBay for these water guns and be sure to look locally! You wouldn't believe what you could find locally. And also be sure to check other search terms on eBay if you are stuck there. I've heard of CPS 2000s going for $30 in less seen search terms during the winter.

Strangely however, the CPS 4100 (essentially the same thing as the Monster) does not seem to sell very well. While I do not have the numbers in front of me at the moment, I remember that the asking prices were high, perhaps higher than some are willing to pay. The CPS 4100 sounds like an easier to obtain Monster to me after seeing this. Certainly, you're likely to pay over $70 including shipping, but that is cheaper than the Monster and comparable.

Between the CPS 1000, CPS 1200, and CPS 2100, the CPS 1200 is the best deal in price. And the best thing is that these water guns are relatively common on eBay.

The XXP 175 does not sell well despite the fact that it's a pretty neat water gun. After looking at these numbers, I'm interesting in buying one.

Water guns such as the Flash Flood and Aquapack Devastator sell for more than they do in stores. I would not suggest getting these water guns for eBay for that reason. Also, medium XP class water guns sell for relatively cheap, but I believe the store prices of comparable water guns today would be cheaper.

Some rarities such as the Batman Super Soaker seem to average no bids. If you are interested in getting one of those, all you should have to do it place a single bid for the minimum.

Other water guns don't sell well either and I would not recommend putting them on eBay if you intend to make money. These water guns include the XP Backfire, the Helix, the Hydroblade, the Liquidator, the Max-D 3000, among others our data was not complete enough to find.

I am still waiting for more data to update this information with water guns such as the SS 300 and to increase the number of each water gun we have data for. ;)

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Sun May 13, 2007 3:14 pm

Kudos for doing such a comprehensive analysis! Don't you think this thread should be stickied? :)

I presume you've kept the information in a spreadsheet or something. If that is the case, then maybe you could create some type of chart plotting price vs. date, with a line for each of certain water guns. Just a thought though, and I don't know if there is a type of chart for which you don't need a price for each date.

The number of bids looks like a key value in determining competition or a selling market for a certain water gun. A few lines struck my eye, like this:
Monster X - $92.44**, 19.5
Monster XL - $155.84, 15
The MX sales had more bids than the Monster XLs, but netted less money. Interesting. This one is also interesting, as the guns are the same:
CPS 1500 - $61.37, 15.50
CPS 1700* - $91.00**, 7
Perhaps people are more impressed by the CPS 1700 colors or name or whatever, although there was an asterisk denoting little information. Same here:
CPS 3000 - $123.07, 25.25
CPS 3200* - $152.50**, 11

I guess it's easy for buyers to sell CPS 1-3-5s, as customers might not know how ineffective the trigger/nozzle system is. I'll also note that the CPS 3000/3200 lay between the CPS 2500 and 2000 in terms of selling price.

Good info, and I'd love to see how things change as summer approaches! Perhaps in the site update you could set up a PHP script for entering data, which will be added to a database...or not. I don't know how difficult it would be.

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DX
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Post by DX » Mon May 14, 2007 1:37 am

Most interesting! I used to keep a list of highs and lows, but haven't paid attention to pricing in a while. It looks like my highs are way out of date - there are some surprisingly high averages here.

I personally wouldn't have factored in shipping, since that changes wildly based on carrier and location, but that's a minor point. I like that the 1500 is staying low compared to other guns in its class - I'm going for one as soon as I can find one that isn't ridiculously overpriced.
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